Forms which are required to be completed in duplicate, triplicate, or other multiples, are normally manufactured as unit sets, also commonly known as snap-out sets, so that information inscribed or printed on a top ply or part is transferred to underlying parts by a transfer means such as carbon paper. Alternatively, chemically mated carbonless paper, which is acted on by applying pressure to a top ply, is also a well-known method for transferring information inscribed on an outer surface of a top ply through, and onto, multiple plies or parts underlying the top ply.
With the advent of readily available non-impact printers, however, printed information applied to a top part of a unit set is not transferred to underlying parts due to the absence of pressured printing being applied to the top part during the printing process. Thus, non-impact printers are unable to be used efficiently for printing information on a unit set form wherein identical information may be transferred from a top part of the set to underlying parts.
Another disadvantage of certain forms, such as mailing forms, in their application for use with a standard non-impact printer, is the particular size requirements designated by organizations which employ or authorize such forms. For example, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) designates size requirements for forms used in international transport of mail pieces or parcels by governmental postal agencies, including the United States Postal Service (USPS). The UPU rules and regulations are followed by postal agencies in as many as 189 countries worldwide.
One such form regulated by the UPU is the Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note, currently provided in the United States as Postal Service Form 2976-A. The Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note is a four-part form, having each part collated along its left edge forming a stub. Each part is removable from the stub along a perforation line. The four parts of the form include two copies of the xe2x80x9cCustoms Declarationxe2x80x9d form, one copy of a xe2x80x9cDispatch Note,xe2x80x9d and a fourth xe2x80x9cPost Office Copy.xe2x80x9d Instead of this fourth Post Office copy, a Manifest Listing, referred to by the USPS as a Firm Mailing Book, can alternatively be used.
Each part of the unit set forming the Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note has a designated overall size requirement of approximately 7xe2x80x3 wide by 5xc2xdxe2x80x3 in height, plus an approximately xc2xdxe2x80x3 stub on the left. Thus, adapting such a form for use with a non-impact printer can be problematic because the total area of the four parts, in any arrangement to provide them as a single sheet for printing by a non-impact printer in a single pass, is greater than the area of a standard 8xc2xdxe2x80x3 wide sheet. This width of a standard size sheet may not be exceeded because a feeder tray on a standard non-impact printer may not accept wider sheets. In addition, configuring three or more parts end-to-end on a single sheet would require the sheet to be at least 16xc2xdxe2x80x3 in length (three 5xc2xdxe2x80x3 parts), which is longer than the longest available standard sheet (8xc2xdxe2x80x3xc3x9714xe2x80x3) compatible with most standard non-impact printers.
The size requirements for the form are not readily varied because they are dictated by the size of the UPU and USPS-approved transparent insert envelope which must be affixed to the package or mailing piece for use with the Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note. The envelope approved for use by the USPS is designated as PS 2976E. Prior to the development of the subject invention, a Customs Declaration Dispatch Note printable by a single pass through a non-impact printer, was unavailable, though greatly needed.
It is an object of the subject invention to provide a laminated form, having a total surface area greater than the area of a standard sheet of paper, constructed as a single sheet of printable material of standard paper size, and capable of being printed on by a standard non-impact printer in a single pass. The subject laminated form is further constructed such that at least one of the laminates can be extended to provide additional surface area for entry or application of additional information after printing on the non-impact printer.
It is another object of the subject invention to provide a laminated, multi-part form, wherein a designated size for the parts results in their total surface area being larger than a standard paper size, constructed and arranged as separable sections on a single laminated sheet of printable material of standard paper size. The construction of the subject form is such that at least one of the sections can be extended to meet the size requirement designated for each part. Preferably, at least one section can be constructed in a folded configuration so that, before being extended, the total surface area of all the parts is equal to or less than a standard size paper.
Arranging the parts of a multi-part form on a single sheet of printable material having the size of a standard sheet of paper can advantageously provide a form printable by a single pass through a standard non-impact printer. The folded area can be extended, e.g., unfolded, for further advantageous use after printing by the non-impact printer. For example, the extended area can provide additional surface area or space for entry or application of additional information after printing on a non-impact printer.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a laminated, multi-part Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note form, wherein the required approximately 7xc2xdxe2x80x3 wide by 5 xc2xdxe2x80x3 in height parts of the form are constructed and arranged to fit on a single 8xc2xdxe2x80x3 by 14xe2x80x3 sheet of printable material, e.g., paper, so that the printable surface of each part can be printed by a non-impact printer in a single pass. At least one laminate of at least one part of the subject single-sheet Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note is extendibly configured so that concealed areas which are not printed by the non-impact printer can be exposed for further use after printing.
In one embodiment, the subject invention comprises a laminated sheet of material printable by a non-impact printer, e.g., an 8xc2xdxe2x80x3xc3x9714xe2x80x3 sheet of paper, wherein the sheet has die-cuts or perforations to provide separable sections which can be separated and collated to form a multi-part Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note form. In the preferred embodiment, the form is provided as a sheet having at least three sections, each section forming a part. The first and second sections form two of the parts which can be identically pre-printed to provide the first and second copies of the Customs Declaration portion of the form. A third section forms a third part which is the Dispatch Note portion of the form and is pre-printed to include designated areas for such Dispatch Note portion. The fourth part normally provided on PS Form 2976-A is omitted in the preferred embodiment because the information normally included on the fourth part can instead be provided in a manifest listing, which is also referred to as a Firm Mailing Book.
The form of the subject invention can preferably be pre-printed to imprint divided and designated areas serving as information blocks which provide discrete areas for entering barcode information, address information, addressee information, package contents information, insurance information, sender""s instruction information, signature area, and the like. In the currently available PS Form 2976A, the Dispatch Note includes an area for applying appropriate customs stamps. This stamp area is preferably positioned to correspond to the area of the Customs Declaration portion of the form used for listing package contents information. Because this customs stamp area does not require information to be inscribed or printed by a printer, the area can be omitted from the printable face of the form. One way to omit a non-printed or non-inscribed area from a printable face is to foldably configure the area, e.g., in a Z-fold configuration, so that the area is effectively concealed during the non-impact printing process. Advantageously, this folded section can be made extendible for exposing the concealed areas after printing by the non-impact printer.
The laminated form according to the subject invention comprises a plurality of superimposed substrates of printable material, e.g., paper, which can have adhesive material and adhesive-release material pattemly disposed on their opposing, inner surfaces. These patterned areas of adhesive can provide permanently adhered areas to form the laminate, and the patterned adhesive-release material can provide areas that are releasably adhered to the opposing sheet so that adhesive can be exposed for later use, for example, to join together separate parts collated to form a multi-part unit set.
The preferred embodiment can include a taggant for specifying insured mail. An article number, e.g., insured mail number, or an invalidation designation, e.g., the word xe2x80x9cVOID,xe2x80x9d can be conveniently printed by the non-impact printer during the process of printing mailing information on the form. This taggant can have an adhesive backing formed by the pattemly disposed adhesive on the inner face of one of the laminates forming the laminated assembly. The adhesive backed taggant is releasable from the opposing layer by having an area of adhesive-release material patternly disposed on the opposing face of that opposing layer.
In operation, the preferred embodiment of the extendible laminated form of the subject invention is processed through a non-impact printer so that address information, package content information, and the like, is printed on the front face of each separable section of the form. The extendible portion is then extended to provide three identically sized parts which can be separated and collated to be superimposed over one another, forming a multi-ply form, e.g., a Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note. The subject form can be collated by adhering each of the parts along a marginal stub or can be physically attached together by affixing a staple or other like attachment means through each of the parts.
In yet another embodiment of the subject invention, four sections of a unit set Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note form can be generated from two separate sheets, wherein each sheet comprises two sections of the unit set, and each section can receive appropriate mailing information. In one variation of this embodiment, both sheets are laminated, i.e., have a front layer for receiving printed information from a non-impact printer and a backing layer which can serve as a peel-away covering for adhesive pattemly disposed between the layers.
In an alternative variation of this embodiment, the separate sheets are single layers which, after being printed with information by a non-impact printer, can be separated into individual sections and then collated and affixed together by a non-adhesive affixing means to form the unit set of four individual sections superimposed on one another.
It would be readily understood that these two-sheet forms, comprising either two single layer sheets or two laminated, two-layer sheets, can be provided as two standard-sized sheets adjoined together end-to-end and separable along a perforation formed therebetween. Preferably, the two-sheet form is provided as two separate sheets wherein one of the two sheets of the set includes a notched corner, typically referred to in the industry as a xe2x80x9ccorner-cutxe2x80x9d in order to facilitate separating two sheets at a time from a printed stack of two-sheet sets.